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Posted 05 February 2017 - 02:31 PM

SaruNi

Posted 05 February 2017 - 06:38 PM

SaruNi

(5) Thaumaturgist

Members

557 posts

Yup, it would definitely be difficult to balance a class design like that, but it would be cool. It could work for rogues too, but I don't know how well it would work with their sneak attacks and the like. It may be too much micro for that class. Who knows? We have to know more about the class changes to make an educated guess there.

So long as it's a sufficiently powerful ability, it could be a replacement for Sneak Attack? The class would be a duellist I guess, and sneak attacks never really fitted with that archetype to my mind.

1. In PoE, Rogue "sneak attack" hasn't been primarily about attacking from hiding or backstabbing---it's been about attacking when opponents have been partly incapacitated (hobbled, blinded, stunned, etc.). So the concept of a Rogue Duelist/Swashbuckler type who hobbles/off-balances/trips or blinds opponents to land sneak attacks makes perfect sense. Think of the classic Duelist/Swashbuckler who disarms his opponent or knocks him off balance or dodges out of the way and trips him, etc., then attacks when he's vulnerable.

Improved riposte, evasion, and CC could be balanced as with the Black Jacket or consumables Monk by making Sneak Attack and/or Backstab have weaker base damage (except maybe under certain conditions---weaker unless in the form of a riposte, or Backstab weaker unless the opponent is also incapacitated). Or base Rogue abilities could cost more or be delayed until later levels (for example, Shadowing Beyond, which if it returns will no longer be once per rest, but instead based on Empower points).

2. One difference between base classes and subclasses might be that subclasses require more micro and/or more item use. For example, Black Jacket requires switching between different weapons to match specific opponents (quickswitching when fighting multiple opponents of different types). The monk subclass uses drugs. The ranger subclass requires more micro because she needs to summon her pet during combat.

3. But with the exception of assassin and shapeshifter, the new subclasses are comparatively unique (and awesome because of it). Duelist/Swashbuckler has been done before. Traps were underutilized items in PoE 1, and multiclassing probably takes away the main advantage of using traps (CC for fighters, etc.)... but trap-centric rogues have also been done a lot (a Ranger subclass based around traps + archery might be more interesting than just another typical Archer Ranger... maybe the pet can walk over the Ranger's traps without triggering them, and the Ranger can take a talent which allows for one or two additional traps at a time, but the subclass gets fewer overall Empower points per rest and has to take points in Mechanics to lay traps effectively). Something unique and relatively unexpected for the second rogue subclass would be best.

4. Of course, the pirate theme might make people want a piratey subclass, like a Swashbuckler, but preferably something more original and lore-specific. Maybe a nautical theme---resistance (or eventually immunity) to prone / hobbled / stuck and elemental AoE (from being on the tossing deck of a ship, or on ships during storms, fires, even resistance to confusion, or if we think of the ancient myth of the sirens perhaps resistance to charm too... maybe even resistance to rare poisons from around the world), to create synergy with "friendly fire" from other classes (and/or the Rogue's own use of items/scrolls/traps)? (Or, like the Black Jacket's extra weapon specializations, maybe this Rogue could start out with bonus resistance to prone/hobbled and choose extra defensive abilities. Perhaps get an added defensive bonus against enemies that are hobbled or have similar afflictions---like a defensive bonus whenever Sneak Attack would apply, including within a few seconds of the beginning of combat or after coming out of stealth/invisibility.) An evasion / riposte tanky rogue with CC (maybe including distraction, decoys, etc.), good battlefield movement, and optionally enhanced traps or item usage too (pirates and booby-trapped buried treasure, pirates and ancient arcane treasures...). Aside from traps, are there any items or interesting item-related mechanics that most people probably didn't use much in PoE 1 that would be interesting for a pirate-like Rogue?

A Duelist could then be more of a Fighter/Rogue multiclass than a pure Rogue subclass.